


Every Little Thing

by verucasalt123



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Charlie Bradbury Lives, Gen, Illnesses, Influenza, Jack's Powers, Sick Sam Winchester, Stressed Dean Winchester, charlie saves the day, netflix, vengeful spirit
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-01
Updated: 2020-06-01
Packaged: 2021-03-03 02:01:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,932
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24487081
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/verucasalt123/pseuds/verucasalt123
Summary: Sam's too sick to hunt, and too sick to be left alone. But this vengeful spirit  in Junction City isn't going to off itself. Time to call in some reinforcements.
Comments: 5
Kudos: 43
Collections: Sam Winchester Prompt-a-thon, Sam Winchester WHUMP





	Every Little Thing

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Center_of_the_Galaxy](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Center_of_the_Galaxy/gifts).
  * In response to a prompt by [Center_of_the_Galaxy](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Center_of_the_Galaxy/pseuds/Center_of_the_Galaxy) in the [SamWinchester_Prompt_a_thon](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/SamWinchester_Prompt_a_thon) collection. 



> **Prompt:**
> 
> Can we just pretend Charlie didn't die? Great. Charlie comes to babysit Jack (reader's choice why) and finds a very sick Sam Winchester who refuses to take a break from the latest case and a stressed out Dean barely holding it all together. Cue Charlie to the rescue!
> 
> I chose this prompt because I just wrote a Charlie lives fic in December so I figure I'd carry it on a bit. I really hope you like it!

Dean’s relief and accompanying guilt arrive simultaneously after hanging up from his call to Charlie. Reinforcements are on the way, she’s coming to the bunker. 

Well, there’s still one day left of this Dr. Who convention and she’s not leaving early ( _unless someone is bleeding out of their eyeballs - is anyone bleeding out of their eyeballs, Dean?_ ) but she’ll be there soon. He’d already told her to use their magic credit card for a flight to Hays and a rental car to Lebanon. No use in her driving fifteen hundred miles when she can be here in less than a day. 

Then Dean can figure out how to proceed. Jack is in no condition to be left alone, even if he insists he is. Or maybe Jack would be fine but his opinion is being overruled. Whatever. They had just gotten him back, now on a diet free of body parts, specifically hearts.Charlie’s going to be there tomorrow night, she and Jack can have some fun doing all of the nerdy things, and Sam can dive back into the research so he and Dean can finish this damn  
hunt.

*********************************************************************************************************

Charlie’s thrilled to find the door unlocked when she gets to the bunker. It’s colder than a well digger’s ass out here with that unrelenting Kansas wind. It’s an adjustment compared to the luxury ride she’s taken here from the airport in Hays. What the hell, it’s not her tab, so she got the Charger with heated everything. She’ll send one of the guys out to get her luggage. 

Starting down the stairs, there’s no response to her “Hey bitches!”, which is odd. By the time she gets to the bottom, Dean appears from around the corner holding a washcloth and looking super stressed. He immediately pulls her in for a hug and that’s not exactly standard operating procedure. 

“Dude, what’s going on?”

“Charlie, damn it, thank you so much for coming. We’ve had a chance in circumstances since I talked to you on the phone.”

“The kid all right? Did something happen?” Charlie doesn’t know Jack all that well, but she knows he can be...unpredictable. 

“Kid’s fine”, Dean says, “well _that_ kid anyway. Sam woke up with a fever this morning, 3am or so. He won’t move from his pile of books and his laptop and all of his notes, because-”

Charlie rolls her eyes. “Let me guess, because he’s fine, and there’s nothing wrong with him, and he’s going to finish this research for this hunt.”

Dean sighs and nods. “Got it in one. Add in that he is also definitely one hundred percent coming with me to finish it up. Jack’s worried, Sam was kind of short with him so now he’s sulking in his room.”

“All right. Where’s this hunt?”

“For us, it’s practically local. Junction City. But it’s a nasty one. Vengeful spirit, two people dead and three in the hospital already. This has got to get finished, but without the research I’m flying blind, and I can’t do this one alone.”

Charlie can’t help but smile a bit, even though it’s mostly bad news. “Dean Winchester, I think I’ve detected some personal growth.”

“Look, I know when I’m outgunned. I need Sam for this.”

“You need _help_ for this. You need another hunter. Or someone. Sam’s sick, so you don’t need him. Call someone. What about Castiel?”

Dean looks away for a moment then responds, “He hasn’t really been around for a while.”

Charlie’s not about to dive into whatever that melodrama is. “Is there a hunter you can call? Someone you can trust to wrap this up with you?”

There’s no immediate answer. “Fine. Then call Cas, tell him you need help, and leave for Junction CIty. I’ll take care of the rest.”

“But Sam-”

“Dean, I know you’re the expert at taking care of Sam. But you’re not the only one who can do it. Now, get your bag, call Castiel, and go. I know where everything is, and I’ll email you the research Sam’s already got. Quit stalling and get the hell out of here. Charlie’s on watch.”

There’s a bit of a hesitation, but Dean knows better than to mess with Charlie when she’s like this. He grabs his bag and his phone and heads toward the garage. 

Charlie makes a quick stop in the kitchen to cool off the washcloth she took off of Dean and arrives in the map room in time to see Sam standing unsteadily next to his chair. He looks a little bewildered, and a lot like he’s been run over by a city bus. He narrows his eyes. “Charlie? What are you- where’s Dean? I heard the car. Where’d he go?”

“Cool it, big guy”, Charlie tells him as she somehow manages to guide his giant ass gently back into his seat. She touches her wrist to his temple and thinks he needs to _literally_ cool it, because this is a high fever. “Dean’s on his way to Grand Junction. He’s calling Cas to meet him there so they can take care of that vengeful spirit.”

Sam’s eyes go wide, and if it’s possible for his skin to grow more pale, it does. “He can’t go without all this”, he tells her in a hoarse voice, waving his hand in the direction of his laptop to indicate his research. 

“Show me what you have so far, then.”

Charlie’s not surprised to find a folder on the desktop neatly labeled Poltergeist/Vengeful Spirit, Junction CIty, 2020. She hands the cloth to Sam and instructs him to hold it on his forehead. He gives her a look, so she gives him a _look_ , so Sam does as he’s told. In a flash, Charlie gets the entire folder emailed to Dean (and to Cas, for however much good that will do).

She’s attempting to pull Sam upright and into a position where he can walk, or at least shuffle his feet down the hallway, but it’s almost impossible. He’s giant, obviously, and sick to exhaustion, and still going on about how he needs to get more information about the case Dean’s gone to. 

Good thing she’s not the only one there. She hollers for Jack, and immediately feels bad because she can see on Sam’s face that the loud noise was very unpleasant. Jack immediately appears in the entrance to the room. 

“Charlie!”, he exclaims with that goofy smile of his. Sometimes, like right now, it’s very hard to remember that underneath he’s in possession of strong and occasionally dangerous powers. 

“Hey kid, do me a favor and help me get the Moose down the hall to his room. I’m trying to get him in bed”. 

Jack gives her a strange look and mumbles something about that being kind of private. “For pete’s sake, Jack, I’m not trying to _go to bed with_ Sam. I just need to get him into his bed so he can lie down, he’s very sick.”

“Sorry, yeah, I- sorry, that was - let me help”, Jack responds, looking a bit embarrassed. 

Sam’s able to walk, which is good, but he still needs support on both sides to keep from tripping or falling. With Jack’s help, it only takes a few minutes to get Sam into his room and tucked up under his covers. Charlie asks Jack to fetch her the med kit and he returns with it in less than two minutes. 

Fever: 102. That’s not hospital-worthy, and she’ll give him a couple of hours to see it breaks on its own before she digs out the Tylenol. She sends Jack to get him a glass of water and tries to ask him some questions. Quietly. “You’re okay, Sam. I’m gonna take off your shoes, Do you feel sick, like you’re gonna puke?”

Sam’s barely there head-shake tells her she doesn’t need to leave a bucket by the bed for him. Jack returns with the water and Sam gives another head-shake. “All right, it’s there if you want it.” 

She’ll need Jack for this next thing. “Take his pants off, will you? I don’t want him sleeping in jeans but it can’t be comfortable to sleep with them on.”

Finally, Charlie leaves Sam’s door cracked open just a bit and leads Jack down into the new TV room Dean fixed up for everyone ( _still needs a sofa_ ). She’s appalled that Jack hasn’t watched Locke & Key yet, so she looks for it on the menu.

“Charlie, why did Dean leave Sam while he’s so sick?”

The kid sounded so bewildered, and Charlie needed to get this answer right. “Okay, so you know how you’ll sometimes hear them say that thing about the family business?”

Jack nodded. “Saving people, hunting things.”

“Right. So at the moment, there’s a thing that needs hunting in another town. It’s already hurt people...it’s already killed people. Dean can’t wait for this virus to run its course before he goes back out there, or more people will be hurt or killed. He called Cas to help with the case, and I am here to keep you entertained and to keep Sam hydrated and comfortable.”

“Maybe I could heal him. I mean, with these new powers-”

Charlie stopped that train of thought as quickly as she could. “It’s not necessary, Jack, it seems like he’s just got the flu. He’ll be back to his usual self in a week or so.”

Jack looks a bit dejected. “Don’t worry, I get it. My powers are kind of all over the place right now.”

“Indeed they are, dude. Just be patient, okay?”

He doesn’t really look like that’s okay, but now he’s engrossed in the opening scenes of their creepy ghost story. 

After about an hour, Charlie creeps up to Sam’s room to find him restless - not quite awake but not quite asleep either. She cools off the washcloth again and pulls up a chair next to his bed. “Feeling any better, champ?”

Sam looks at her like he’s seen a ghost. “Charlie? You’re _here_? You’re _alive_? I had the worst nightmare, that we hadn’t gotten to you fast enough during that whole Book of the Damned thing, that Eldon Styne-”

She can tell he’s getting worked up so she needs to calm him down. “Yeah, Sam, but that was just a bad dream. You got there just in time, and you blasted Styne’s head to bits. And I was fine, we were all fine, and it’s okay now. Remember I cursed at you and Dean?”

This seems to bring the slightest hint of a smile onto Sam’s face, which is the best she can ask for, considering. His face is almost as pale as his pillowcase, he already looks like he’s lost a few pounds, and he radiates fever heat and misery. 

Fortunately, she can keep Jack happy with TV shows and cooking for the time being. Cas can heal Sam when they return to the bunker (mental note: tell Dean to bring Castiel’s ass back here after the hunt instead of letting him disappear to who knows where).

Sam’s a terrible patient and Dean calls far too often to ask for non-updates on his brother’s health. He has the flu, he’s going to feel like garbage for a while, then he’ll get better. That’s it, that’s the whole update. Every single time.

But Sam’s fever seems to have broken, and he thinks he wants something to eat. Charlie pulls out a very old and heavily notated index card with instructions for making tomato rice soup. Sam’s gonna be just fine.


End file.
